Relaxing Yoga Retreat New Zealand

Anahata Yoga Retreat in Golden Bay, New Zealand, invites you to this relaxing silent meditation and yoga retreat with international meditation teacher, Swami Anandakumar. This retreat provides an opportunity to travel to your own center, to find the stillness within, and discover your own inner nature, which is unchanging and offers peace, happiness, clarity, and perspective on the whole of life. Achieve the power of awareness here.

Niveau de pratique

Styles de yoga

Hébergement

Anahata Yoga Retreat is a residential eco-­yoga retreat using alternative power, composting toilets, eco-friendly buildings, and nutritious organic vegetarian meals. Anahata is off the electrical grid and relies on solar power, minimizing the impact on the environment. Anahata Yoga Retreat is a supportive, inspiring, and dynamic environment that welcomes everyone regardless of age, background, and level of yoga experience.

The facilities accommodate up to 30 guests at a time, with extra space available for tent sites. Families and children are welcome to visit Anahata, however, due to limited facilities, Anahata encourages families to bring a tent or stay in the private guest house, Chakra, which will give you more privacy. At present, Anahata Yoga Retreat has two different types of straw bale structures and an earth yurt. These buildings have excellent insulation which will be staying warm in the winter and keeping cool in the summer. They were also built using primarily natural materials. Anahata uses primarily composting toilets, helping to minimize water usage. The compost from these toilets is used to mulch trees around the property.

Other informations

Please note that you should not bring alcohol and recreational drugs, pets, and hair dryers (unfortunately the solar power system cannot handle them).

Cell phones to be turned off unless checking messages in free time only.

Anahata Yoga Retreat is smoke-free. Please abstain from smoking on the grounds during your stay.

In consideration of others, please refrain from wearing strong perfumes or cologne.

Please note that Anahata Yoga Retreat does not serve coffee but they do have several nice tea options including black tea.

Programme

This retreat offers a chance to deepen your meditation practice or to start one if you are a beginner. Held over seven days, it will help you to let your mind rest and enjoy a different deeper kind of relaxation that will leave you wiser and readier for the challenges of life. Part of the retreat will be held in silence. Renowned meditation teacher, Swami Anandakumar, takes a fresh and direct approach to meditation which is effective for both the beginner and advanced practitioner. The combination of ancient yoga techniques with well-timed intuitive guidance aimed at the modern mind helps each person to find their way to deeper levels of awareness through access to their own intuitive experience.

This self-explorative approach to meditation provides a gentle way to balance the mind and realign the awareness toward your own inner nature. With more than 35 years of experience, Swami Anandakumar helps to bring harmony to meditation practice, outlining a working ‘road map’ in order to harmonize any conflict with the body and mind and find your way forward. This allows your meditation practice to come from a place of inspiration rather than a feeling of obligation which is uplifting even as you begin to face up to yourself. It's a jumping off point for a deeper self-discovery.

The focus of this inspiring retreat is on awareness in meditation and it will help to answer some essential questions, which are "what is meditation?", "what is its purpose?", "how do you practice it properly?", "how do you maintain your meditation practice?", "what are the benefits that meditation can accrue for you in daily life?" There comes a time when you realize that what you have been looking for doesn’t, in fact, lie in the places you’ve been looking. The only qualification you need is a desire to go into the inner world and explore there in order to know yourself better. This opportunity for continuity in practice, uninterrupted by the demands and activities of the outer world, will deepen your ability to hear and listen to your own inner voice.

The mind can be tricky. It will present distractions and diversions along the way. With well-timed intuitive guidance, Swami Anandakumar can skillfully help you navigate these detours, bringing you back to connection with awareness so your practice continues to deepen. Swami Anandakumar teaches with a wisdom, authenticity, and generosity of spirit born out of many years of practicing yoga and meditation. He encourages, inspires, and gently guides you. With his warm down-to-earth manner, he makes the mystery of meditation clear and accessible.

This retreat also includes Hatha yoga classes, daily chanting, Karma yoga (action with meditative awareness), yoga Nidra (deep relaxation), ancient fire ceremonies (havan) and kirtan chanting, and periods of silence for reflection. This course is suitable for all sincere students, seekers, and spiritual adventurers to develop and extend your regular meditation practice of finding the answers within the self. Each meditation experience is unique with the potential to go deeper each time. Students often attend the course multiple times.

Hatha yoga

Hatha yoga consists of postures (asanas), pranayama, mudra, and bandha. Anahata Yoga Retreat has led Hatha yoga classes at 06:00 on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. On other mornings, guests are welcome to use the yoga shala for their own Hatha yoga practice. If you do not have your own Hatha yoga practice, please consider having a private session to develop a practice suited to your needs and lifestyle, or purchase a yoga class CD to guide you.

Karma yoga

Karma yoga is the yoga of meditative action which brings awareness and the spirit of selfless service to whatever you are doing. Guests are encouraged to participate in Karma yoga from 08:30 to 09:30. Karma yoga usually involves activities in the kitchen, garden, housekeeping, office, or maintenance departments.

Mouna

Mouna (silence) gives you the opportunity to draw inwards in order to observe your thoughts, patterns, and mental tendencies. Usually, you are externalized, communicating, and interacting with the world. Mouna is a way to conserve energy and direct it towards spiritual practice and self-understanding rather than exhausting it in external pursuits. The practice of mouna is observed daily at Anahata Yoga Retreat from 21:00 to 08:15.

Yoga Nidra

Yoga Nidra is a guided deep relaxation. You simply lie on your back and listen to the instructions. Anahata Yoga Retreat practices yoga Nidra every day at noon.

Daily schedule (subject to change)

06:00-07:15 Yoga asana class (Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday)

07:15-07:45 Morning chanting

07:45-08:30 Breakfast

08:30 Morning circle

08:45-09:30 Karma yoga (action with awareness)

12:00-12:30 Yoga Nidra (deep relaxation)

12:30 Lunch

18:00-18:30 Meditation

18:30 Dinner

20:30-08:30 Mouna (golden silence)

Professeurs

Anandakumar Saraswati

Swami Anandakumar Saraswati is an exceptional teacher in meditation. A sannyasin of the Bihar School of Yoga, Swami Anandakumar has practiced yoga and related disciplines for over 30 years and has spent many years teaching at institutions in India and internationally. He inspires, not only with his depth of wisdom, but also with his music, warmth, and light approachable manner.

Lieu du séjour

Anahata Yoga Retreat is located in the beautiful Golden Bay, New Zealand, in the northwest part of the South Island. It is situated 640 meters (2000 feet) above sea level, at an idyllic spot called Bird's Clearing which is overlooking Golden Bay and the Abel Tasman National Park. The closest town is Takaka. The two closest airports are Takaka Aerodrome (KTF) (limited service link) and Nelson Airport (NSN). Anahata Yoga Retreat is 15 kilometers from Takaka with the last seven kilometers being unsealed. You will have to cross five small fords. A 4WD vehicle is helpful but many people drive up in 2WD cars without any problem.

Nearby places

Takaka, 15 kilometers - 30 minutes by car

Particularités exclusives de l'offre

Activités

Shopping

Équipements

Coin repas

Respectueux de l'environnement

Jardin

Cuisine

Résidence non-fumeur

Menu spéciaux sur demande

Yoga shala

Services

Accès internet

Agence de voyage

Repas

All meals provided are vegetarian, simple, nutritious, and satisfying. Much of the organic food is sourced from local growers or picked fresh from the garden, which is developed along permaculture design principles. Anahata Yoga Retreat has a closed kitchen policy and no personal cooking is permitted. However, the option of cooking alongside one of the retreat residents and learning about sattvic food preparation and prasad is a possibility during your stay, if you choose. Some special dietary requirements for food allergies can be catered to with prior advance notice. Anahata Yoga Retreat can cater to vegan and gluten-free requirements but for other required specialty foods or snacks, you may wish to bring your own supply. Please confirm when booking if in doubt.

At Anahata Yoga Retreat, you will get the chance to experience a yogic diet, a vegetarian diet that is based on principles of simplicity, and that supports your being in the process of positive transformation. A proper diet that is pure, simple, and as natural as possible is essential for progress in yoga. If one eats pure food, then the system is revitalized again and again. The water at Anahata is from a pure mountain spring and is absolutely safe to drink.

Comment se rendre sur place ?

Driving directions from Nelson

Travel west through the town of Motueka from Nelson, which is the main city in the north part of the South Island. Please note that there are no petrol stations available between Motueka and Takaka so it is best to fill up in Motueka. Please stick to the speed limits to avoid traps.

Drive towards and into Takaka after crossing the Takaka Hill from Nelson.

Follow the road to the roundabout at the dairy factory and turn right.

Drive towards Pohara Beach for about ten minutes. The road curves on a big right and then a big left. You will pass Motupipi School (on the left).

Take the next turn right at the Clifton crossroads.

Turn right at the next T Junction at Carlyle Street.

Follow this road to the next T-junction and turn left continuing on Clifton Road. As you turn, you will see an orange "Anahata Retreat" sign. You will come to a gravel road and a sign saying Bird Road.

Follow the gravel road (Bird Road) up to the top of the mountain (seven kilometers). You will notice a sign part way up the hill with several family names on it. This is a private driveway / road to their house.

Continue on past this drive. There are some shallow fords and various gates. Please leave the gates as you find them (closed if closed). When you are half way up, you will come to two gates side-by-side.

Go through the left gate (not the one going down the hill to the farm). When you arrive at the top after approximately 30 minutes driving, you will see a little sign on the other side of the top gate to the right that says Abel Tasman-Wainui Hut.

Go through this gate and follow the same gravel / dirt road heading a little left. On your left (a hundred meters or so), you will see a row of big pine trees, a house, and some gardens. There is an “Anahata” sign on the fence to the right of the gate. You have arrived. Please park outside and walk through the Anahata Yoga Retreat's gate to the office (in front of and attached to the building you see).

Arrival by airplane

There is an airport in Nelson and there is a small airport in Takaka. Nelson Airport (NSN) is the main national airport for the region and is a two hours' drive from Takaka. You can also fly directly from Wellington to Takaka Aerodrome (KTF). Golden Bay Air offers scheduled flights from Wellington directly to Takaka all year. Please see Golden Bay Air for flight timetables. This is a gorgeous flight over Cook Strait and Abel Tasman National Park. Air New Zealand offers daily flights to Nelson. Please see the website for flights.

Arrival by bus

Arrival by taxi

You can hire the local MaxiCab taxi service. Please book online or ring the freephone number or text 0800-MaxiCab (08006294222) to book a taxi service. It is essential to pre-book in advance (limited rural service).